1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle buckle support apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 62-039343 (JP 62-039343 A) describes technology related to a mounting structure of vehicle seat belt. Simply, an inner belt includes a resin boot formed in a thin cylindrical shape. Inside this boot, a plate-shaped mounting bracket is connected to a buckle at an upper end portion, and is retained at a lower end portion. Moreover, a flanged collar is arranged next to the mounting bracket, and the mounting bracket is connected to and supported by an anchor plate via this collar.
According to this structure, an inside surface of the boot is supported by the flange of the collar, so the inner belt is able to be kept in a stable upright state. As a result, assembly space for a console box is able to be maintained at a constant width, and problems such as the boot scraping against, and consequently damaging, the console box or a seat, and producing friction noise or the like can be eliminated.
However, with this structure, the flanged collar is arranged inside of the boot and must be attached to the floor, so the number of parts increases. Also, the structure becomes more complex, the weight increases, and cost also increases.
Meanwhile, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 63-46267 (JP 63-46267 U) describes technology related to a buckle stalk for a seat belt. With this structure, a buckle and an anchor plate are connected together by an inner belt, and the inner belt in this state is set inside of a die. Resin material is poured into the die and mold formed. At this time, a plurality of long holes is formed in a side wall portion on a seat side of a resin cover member that covers the inner belt. Then, flexible elastic members are fit into the long holes.
However, the related art described in JP 63-46267 U may be construed in the following manner. The inner belt is set inside of the die, and the inner belt and the cover member are integrated by pouring resin material into the die. As a result, the rigidity of the overall inner boot becomes too high, and as a result, operability when an occupant puts on webbing deteriorates. Therefore, the plurality of long holes that are through-holes are formed in the side wall portion on a seat cushion side of the cover member, enabling the entire inner boot to flex toward the seat cushion side. Moreover, the appearance when the long holes that are through-holes are exposed is poor, so the flexible elastic members are packed inside of them.
When construed in this way, with the related art described in JP 63-46267 U, in order to ensure wearability when an occupant puts on the webbing, an extremely complex structure is employed, which is costly. In particular, when mold forming is performed, the entire inner boot must be specially designed from scratch for each vehicle model, which also results in a cost increase.